I've been reading a bunch of Old Testament and New Testament apocrypha, and I recently decided to pick up my old book on the Coptic language, where there's an excellent Coptic translation of the deuterocanonical Book of Wisdom. It's called Tsophia n Solomon, or The Wisdom of Solomon, in the Coptic, and it's just a really beautiful piece of writing with what are in my mind some fairly cosmic ideas. Solomon is my favorite Biblical figure, and I love pretty much any mystical or wisdom literature, so I decided to try to translate it. I based it solely on the Coptic text, and I tried to capture some of the unusual, flowing qualities of that language. My Coptic is also as rusty as a 1940 Mercury left in the rain, so I take all responsibility for any silly mistranslations. I think it would be just about impossible to convey the feeling of the original, anyway, but here it is. It's just the first part, for now, since I'm slowly working on the rest.

The Wisdom of Solomon

Love righteousness, you who judge the earth; Give thought to the Lord in goodness,And you will find Him in the simplicity of your hearts.

For those who do not tempt Him will come to find Him; He is revealed unto those who believe in Him.

The thought which is evil separates from God, And His power in its revelation rebukes all thoughtlessness.

For Wisdom does not come into a soul which is evil;Nor does it reside in a body given to sin.

For the spirit which is holy, the spirit of Wisdom, flies from deceit,And it is distant from thoughts of evil,And it reviles every essence of violence.

For the spirit of Wisdom loves man,And will not justify the blasphemer;For God is the witness of the inner self,And he who seeks will find love in his heart, and he who listens will hear His words.

For the spirit of the Lord filled the world,And he who accepts the whole of the world will understand its voice.

For this reason no one who speaks in violence will be concealed;Nor will he escape the judgment which is forthcoming.

For the words of the unbeliever will be uncovered,And the Lord will listen to his every word in revelation of his lawlessness.

For the ear of His envy listens to every work, And the voice of those who mutter in anger will not be hidden.

Watch that you mutter not in emptiness,And restrain your lips from slander.For no word which is vain will be hidden;A tongue which spreads lies will destroy the soul.

Do not envy, and perish, in the deception of your life,Nor draw yourselves into destruction in the work of your hands.

For the God our God did not create death,Nor does He rejoice in the destruction of what is living.

He created all things so that they might persist for all time;And that they might be whole, the creations of the cosmos.The poison of death is not in their hearts,Nor is the kingdom of Hell upon the face of the earth.

But those without faith choose it in their works, and in their speech;They take it to themselves as a fellow, they set it free,They build upon it a covenant,For they are worthy of the lot which is theirs.

Last edited by Bragatyr on Tue Apr 30, '13, 4:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

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